Floor drain with membrane strainer

ABSTRACT

A floor drain with membrane strainer includes a main body having a pit, a top flat grate, and a strainer assembly mounted in the main body below the flat grate. The strainer assembly includes a disc-shaped base that has an annular plate portion with a downward inner flange, and a U-sectioned cup portion having a bottom central hole and being supported in the annular plate portion by ribs with an open area left between them; a membrane strainer made of an elastic and flexible material and having a thin annular portion, on which locating rods are provided for engaging with locating holes on the base to thereby fix the membrane strainer below the flange to normally seal the open area; and a gasket ring fitted around the base for the whole strainer assembly to stably seat in the pit of the main body.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a floor drain with membrane strainer,and more particularly to a floor drain having a membrane-type strainerassembly mounted in a main body thereof to effectively prevent stink andinsects in a drainpipe from entering into a room via the floor drain.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Taiwanese Patent Publication No. 210687 discloses a stink-isolatingfloor drain. The floor drain has a seat with drain water holes, adome-shaped hollow cap upward projected from a perimeter of the seat,and an inverted bowl portion downward extended from a bottom of theseat. When an amount of drain water is accumulated between an outer sideand an inner conic draining face of the dome-shaped cap to submerge theinverted bowl portion, stink in a drainpipe below the floor drain isprevented from moving upward into a room via the floor drain. The floordrain disclosed in the above Taiwanese patent fails to drain watersmoothly because water could not be drained via a central hole of thedome-shaped cap before it submerges the cap. Dust and debris tends tocumulate between the outer side and the inner conic draining face of thedome-shaped cap to produce stink or even clog the floor drain.

Taiwanese Patent Publication No. 287567 discloses a valve-type bathroomfloor drain having a strainer top and a base to define a funnel-shapedpit between them, and an elastic plastic valve fitted in thefunnel-shaped pit. The elastic plastic valve is provided with aplurality of widely spaced valve members corresponding to drain holes onthe strainer top and a considerably large central hole, and is nottightly attached to an underside of the drain holes. That is, the floordrain having been fully installed for use is in a completely open statewithout any shielding means, and therefore completely fails to stopstink in a drainpipe from moving upward into the bathroom via the floordrain, not to mention mosquitoes and insects in the drainpipe.

It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop a floor drain withmembrane strainer to overcome drawbacks existed in the conventionalfloor drains.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a floor drainwith membrane strainer that effectively prevents stink and insects in adrainpipe from entering into a room via the floor drain.

To achieve the above and other objects, the floor drain with membranestrainer according to the present invention mainly includes a main bodyhaving a funnel-shaped pit, a flat grate mounted on a top of the mainbody using a fastening element, and a strainer assembly mounted in themain body below the flat grate. The strainer assembly includes adisc-shaped base that has an annular plate portion with a downwardflange provided along a lower inner edge thereof, and a U-sectioned cupportion having a bottom central hole and being integrally supported at acenter of the annular plate portion by ribs, such that an open area isformed between the annular plate portion and the cup portion for drainwater to flow therethrough; a membrane strainer that is made of anelastic and flexible material and includes a thin annular portion, onwhich locating rods are provided for engaging with locating holes on thebase to thereby fix the membrane strainer below the base to normallyseal the open area; and a gasket ring fitted around the base for thewhole strainer assembly to stably seat in the funnel-shaped pit of themain body.

A seal ring and an elastic element are sequentially positioned in thecup portion around the fastening element, and thereby seal a joint ofthe bottom central hole of the cup portion and the fastening element inan airtight manner.

The membrane strainer made of elastic and flexible material providesexcellent elastic stress to normally elastically seal the open areabetween the annular plate portion and the cup portion of the base andthereby effectively prevents stink and insects in a drainpipe fromentering into a room via the floor drain. And, when the membranestrainer is subjected to a weight of drain water, its outer peripheralarea is elastically bent downward to open the open area for drain waterto flow therethrough.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present inventionto achieve the above and other objects can be best understood byreferring to the following detailed description of the preferredembodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view of a floor drain with membranestrainer according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the floor drain with membranestrainer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A is an assembled sectional view showing the floor drain withmembrane strainer of FIG. 1 without drain water flowing therethrough;

FIG. 3B is an assembled sectional view showing the floor drain withmembrane strainer of FIG. 1 with drain water flowing therethrough;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a variant strainer assemblyfor the floor drain of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a floor drain with membranestrainer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2 that are assembled and explodedperspective views, respectively, of a floor drain with membrane straineraccording to a first embodiment of the present invention. For thepurpose of concision, the present invention is also briefly referred toas “the floor drain” throughout the specification. As shown, the floordrain in the first embodiment mainly includes a main body 1 having afunnel-shaped pit 11 formed therein, a flat grate 2 closed to an opentop of the main body 1, and a strainer assembly 3 mounted in the pit 11between the main body 1 and the flat grate 2 using a fastening element4.

The strainer assembly 3 includes a base 31, a membrane strainer 32, anelastic element 33, and a gasket ring 34.

The base 31 is a molded disc-shaped member 310 made of a plasticmaterial. The base 31 includes an annular plate portion 311 located at aradially outer part thereof, and a U-sectioned cup portion 312 having abottom central hole 314 and being supported at a center of the annularplate portion 311 by at least one rib 313, such that an open area 316 isformed between an inner edge of the annular plate portion 311 and anouter edge of the cup portion 312. Moreover, the annular plate portion311 is provided along a lower inner edge with a downward flange 317, andthe rib 313 is provided at predetermined positions with at least twolocating holes 315.

The membrane strainer 32 is integrally molded with a highly flexible,elastic, and weatherproof rubber material or a semi-flexible plasticmaterial, and includes a thin annular portion 320 defining a centralhole 321, and at least two locating rods 322 upward projected from a topof the annular portion 320 corresponding to the locating holes 315 onthe rib 313 of the base 31. The membrane strainer 32 is fitted in theopen area 316 to locate below the base 31 by upward inserting thelocating rods 322 into the locating holes 315. Each of the locating rods322 is formed near an upper end with a retaining ring 323, which isadapted to hold the locating rod 322 in the locating hole 315 after thelocating rod 322 is fully inserted into the locating hole 315. When themembrane strainer 32 is fitted in the open area 316 in the above manner,the annular portion 320 has an inner edge fitly located around the loweredge of the cup portion 312 and an outer edge fitly abutted on aradially lower inner edge of the flange 317, and thereby elasticallyseals the open area 316.

The gasket ring 34 is integrally molded with an elastic and weatherproofrubber material or a semi-flexible plastic material and includes anannular body 340. The annular body 340 is provided at an inner edge withan annular groove 341 for fitly engaging with an outer edge of theannular plate portion 311 of the base 31, so that the gasket ring 34 ismounted around the base 31.

The elastic element 33 is in the form of a spring, and positionedbetween the flat grate 2 and the base 31. A seal ring 35 functioning asa washer may be mounted in the cup portion 312 of the base 31 to supporta lower end of the elastic element 33 and tightly attach to thefastening element 4. When the floor drain of the present invention isfully assembled and installed, the base 31 is held down by the flatgrate 2 and the elastic element 33, so that the whole strainer assembly3 is tightly downward pressed against the funnel-shaped pit 11 of themain body 1, as shown in FIG. 1, without the risk of becoming loose ormovable in the main body 1.

To enable a firm and tight fixing of the membrane strainer 32 of thestrainer assembly 3 on the base 31, the cup portion 312 is provided witha stepped lower edge 319 for engaging with the central hole 321 of themembrane strainer 32, and the flange 317 is provided with a steppedlower inner edge 318 for engaging with the outer edge of the annularportion 320 of the membrane strainer 32.

For the annular portion 320 of the membrane strainer 32 to have enhancedstrength and stress to avoid easy elastic fatigue, the annular portion320 of the membrane strainer 32 is provided at inner and outer edgeswith annular ribs 324 and 325, respectively.

Moreover, to enable easy fitting of the gasket ring 34 around theannular plate portion 311 of the base 31 and stable seating of the wholestrainer assembly 3 in the funnel-shaped pit 11 of the main body 1, theouter edge of the annular plate portion 311 of the base 31 is formedinto a bevel surface, the groove 341 on the gasket ring 34 has a lyingV-shaped cross section, and the annular body 340 of the gasket ring 34has a lower outer edge formed into a bevel surface corresponding to aslant inner surface of the funnel-shaped pit 11 of the main body 1.

Please refer to FIG. 3A that is a sectional view showing a fullyinstalled floor drain of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2without drain water flowing therethrough. As shown, the membranestrainer 32 of the strainer assembly 3 is fitted below the cup portion312 and the flange 317 of the base 31 to seal the open area 316, and theseal ring 35 is tightly attached to the fastening element 4 to seal ajoint of the fastening element 4 and the bottom central hole 314 of thecup portion 312 in a completely airtight manner. Therefore, the strainerassembly 3 effectively stops not only stink but also mosquitoes andinsects in a drainpipe from entering into a room via the floor drain.

On the other hand, when there is drain water flowing through the floordrain via the flat grate 2 as shown in FIG. 3B, a radially outerperipheral area of the annular portion 320 of the membrane strainer 32of the strainer assembly 3 is smoothly downward bent by the weight ofthe drain water to provide a water passage T between the membranestrainer 32 and the flange 317 of the base 31, allowing the drain waterto fall into the drainpipe (not shown) via the water passage T withoutany impediment. When the drain water stops, the radially outerperipheral area of the membrane strainer 32 automatically springs upwardinto an original horizontal position to locate below the flange 317 dueto an inherent elastic stress of the material thereof and a cohesionforce of residual water between the outer edge of the membrane strainer32 and an outer edge of the open area 316, so that the open area 316 issealed by the membrane strainer 32 again.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a variant strainer assemblyfor the floor drain of the present invention. This variant is generallystructurally similar to the strainer assembly 3, except that it hasdifferently designed ribs 313 on the base 31.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a floor drain with membranestrainer according to another embodiment of the present invention. Thefloor drain in this embodiment is generally similar to the first one,except that it includes a main body 1A having a relatively deepfunnel-shaped pit 11A, and is further provided with a supporting element5, which is positioned in the deep pit 1A to stably support the strainerassembly 3 seated in the main body 1A.

1. A floor drain with membrane strainer, comprising a main body having afunnel-shaped pit formed therein, a flat grate closed to an open top ofsaid main body, and a strainer assembly fixedly mounted in said pitbetween said main body and said flat grate; said strainer assemblyincluding: a base in the form of a disc-shaped member and including: anannular plate portion located at a radially outer part of said base, andbeing provided along a lower inner edge with a downward flange; and aU-sectioned cup portion having a bottom central hole; an elastic elementbeing received in said cup portion and compressed between said flatgrate and said cup portion; and said cup portion being integrallysupported at a center of said annular plate portion by at least one ribextended across said annular plate portion; and a membrane strainer madeof an elastic and flexible material and including a thin annularportion, said membrane strainer being fitted below said annular plateportion and said cup portion of said base to normally seal an open areabetween said annular plate portion and said cup portion; and saidmembrane strainer having a radially outer peripheral area that issmoothly bent to separate from the lower inner edge of said flange whensaid membrane strainer is subjected to a weight of drain water flowingtherethrough, so as to provide a water passage between said flange andsaid membrane strainer, and automatically restores to a horizontal stateto seal said open area again when the drain water stops.
 2. The floordrain with membrane strainer as claimed in claim 1, further comprising agasket ring for fixing around an outer edge of said annular plateportion of said base to stably seat said strainer assembly on an innerwall of said main body.
 3. The floor drain with membrane strainer asclaimed in claim 1, further comprising a seal ring located between saidelastic element and said cup portion of said base.
 4. The floor drainwith membrane strainer as claimed in claims 1, wherein said membranestrainer is provided on a top with upward projected locating rods, andsaid base being correspondingly provided at predetermined positions withlocating holes for engaging with said locating rods.
 5. The floor drainwith membrane strainer as claimed in claims 2, wherein said membranestrainer is provided on a top with upward projected locating rods, andsaid base being correspondingly provided at predetermined positions withlocating holes for engaging with said locating rods.
 6. The floor drainwith membrane strainer as claimed in claims 3, wherein said membranestrainer is provided on a top with upward projected locating rods, andsaid base being correspondingly provided at predetermined positions withlocating holes for engaging with said locating rods.
 7. The floor drainwith membrane strainer as claimed in claim 4, wherein said locatingholes are provided on said at least one rib on said base.
 8. The floordrain with membrane strainer as claimed in claim 5, wherein saidlocating holes are provided on said at least one rib on said base. 9.The floor drain with membrane strainer as claimed in claim 6, whereinsaid locating holes are provided on said at least one rib on said base.10. The floor drain with membrane strainer as claimed in claim 1,wherein said annular plate portion of said base has an outer edge formedinto a bevel surface, said cup portion of said base having a steppedlower edge, and said flange of said base having a stepped lower inneredge.
 11. The floor drain with membrane strainer as claimed in claim 2,wherein said annular plate portion of said base has an outer edge formedinto a bevel surface, said cup portion of said base having a steppedlower edge, and said flange of said base having a stepped lower inneredge.
 12. The floor drain with membrane strainer as claimed in claim 3,wherein said annular plate portion of said base has an outer edge formedinto a bevel surface, said cup portion of said base having a steppedlower edge, and said flange of said base having a stepped lower inneredge.
 13. The floor drain with membrane strainer as claimed in claim 1,wherein said membrane strainer has a central hole, and wherein said thinannular portion of said membrane strainer is provided along at least oneof an inner and an outer edge thereof with an annular rib.
 14. The floordrain with membrane strainer as claimed in claim 2, wherein saidmembrane strainer has a central hole, and wherein said thin annularportion of said membrane strainer is provided along at least one of aninner and an outer edge thereof with an annular rib.
 15. The floor drainwith membrane strainer as claimed in claim 3, wherein said membranestrainer has a central hole, and wherein said thin annular portion ofsaid membrane strainer is provided along at least one of an inner and anouter edge thereof with an annular rib.
 16. The floor drain withmembrane strainer as claimed in claim 2, wherein said gasket ring isprovided along an inner edge with an annular groove having a crosssection corresponding to a configuration of the outer edge of saidannular plate portion of said base, and has a lower outer edge formedinto a bevel surface corresponding to a slant inner surface of saidfunnel-shaped pit of said main body.
 17. The floor drain with membranestrainer as claimed in claim 1, further comprises a supporting elementmounted in said pit of said main body below said strainer assembly, sothat said strainer assembly is always supported by said supportingelement to locate at a fixed position in said main body.
 18. The floordrain with membrane strainer as claimed in claim 2, further comprises asupporting element mounted in said pit of said main body below saidstrainer assembly, so that said strainer assembly is always supported bysaid supporting element to locate at a fixed position in said main body.19. The floor drain with membrane strainer as claimed in claim 3,further comprises a supporting element mounted in said pit of said mainbody below said strainer assembly, so that said strainer assembly isalways supported by said supporting element to locate at a fixedposition in said main body.